T O T O P - JO LEE Magazine

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I was intrigued by this approach and also apprehensive.
I had studied "On Death And Dying" by
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross {1969} during my psychiatric
training. She described the psychological
stages of the dying process: Denial, Anger,
Bargaining, Depression {Grief} and Acceptance.
Yet, the prevailing medical wisdom implied that
truth-telling was dangerous; it could destroy hope
and hasten the patient's death. Death was discussed
in hushed tones; often, from the doctor's
point of view, death meant failure and defeat.
Today, we know how eager most dying patients
are to talk about their experience; how therapeutic
such frank talk can be and how oppressive is
silence. For example, Hackett and Weisman
{1962} describe a hospital consultation involving
a 57 year old woman with advanced metastic
cancer. When asked why she was nervous: 'I'm
nervous because I've lost 60 pounds in a year, the
priest comes to see me twice a week which he
never did before and my mother-in-law is nicer
to me even though I'm meaner to her. Wouldn't
that make you nervous?' The physician replied
'You mean you think you're dying?' 'That's right,
I do,' she answered. He paused and said quietly,
'you are.' She smiled and said 'Well I've finally
broken the sound barrier; someone's finally told
me the truth.' In the 1960s - such frankness was
all too rare.
JO LEE MAGAZINE - P AGE 44 / / CONTENTS PAGE
Today, we know how
therapeutic frank talk
can be.
How oppressive is
silence.